Swahili and Spanish
by Tabitha3
Summary: With the end of the school year fast approaching, Tohru and the Sohmas are ready for the summer. But just before the break they've been waiting for, a new student arrives. He isn't hesitant to a fight and it seems he has an eye for the Sohmas. To preve
1. Chapter 1

((This is a fanfic of Fruits basket with a few of my own characters in the mix and a historical figure or two. Its all in good fun and I have the deepest respect for everyone's name that appears in my writing.))

Chapter One

Sohmas

"Hi! I'm Tohru Honda! I've been living with the Sohma family for two years now! They took me in after my mom's passing in an unfortunate accident. I love each Sohma and always love it when a new one appears! You see, the Sohmas' have a curse on them, when hugged by a member of the opposite sex or stressed, they transform into one of the animals of the chinese zodiac! Well I am in my junior year of high school, I'm buckling down along with Kyo and Yuki to make the best grades that I can so that I can go to a good college. But with Summer approaching so rapidly, time just seems to be flying!"

Tohru walked up the hall of the school to her second period class. She had her bag in her hand and a bounce in her step that never really vanished. The girl's cheery outlook on life was noticeable by anyone and everyone. She looked around a bit wondering what it would be like to be in her final year and "above" the rest. Her day dreams were interupted when she bumped into something.

"Sorry," she said bending down to collect her things that had fallen out of the bag. She looked up a moment to see what she had bumped into but the figure had continued walking. Tohru finished picking up her things and began to jog a bit to class.

Once Tohru arrived in class just before the late bell sounded. She panted as she made her way to her seat sighing. Her seat was right between her best friends, Hanajima and Uo. The two girls turned at the same time to see their friend sit down, it was quite uncommon for the girl to be late but there was always a first time for everything. The class went on for a while before any work was actually given, when the work was indeed givien however, Uo decided she would ask why Tohru had been late and Hanajima sinced the question approaching.

"Were you trying to ditch?" Uo joked.

Tohru began to panic at the thought of skipping class. She shook her head quickly, denying even the idea of ditching, "no, no, never, I wouldn't do that," she said, "I was just a little late after talking to the coucelor about the summer education program. Oh and then I bumped into somebody and I had to collect my things."

"You are thinking of joining the summer program? I thought you had enough credits," Hanajima questioned.

"I may be shy of two that I can't make up in my senior year," Tohru said with a smile, "they said I could have a place!"

Uo shook her head, "enoough yammer about summer school," she said growling at the words, "I want to know who bumped into you and didn't even offer to help pick up your things."

"Maybe they did and I didn't hear them," Tohru said, not wanting Uo to worry or cause an unnecessary scene, "or maybe they were late as well."

"No excuse," the yankee said with crossed arms and a head shake of shame.

The teacher collected the papers that the three had worked on together. Their talking hadn't kept them from their work, well maybe Uo. Hanajima was always on her work, even in a moment of worry. After the class ended the three headed for lunch together. They decided to eat in the cafeteria and on the way they ran into Yuki who seemed quite busy with Kyo. The two were arguing as always and Kyo seemed to be on the verge of challenging Yuki to another fight that he wouldn't win.

"Cool it orange top," Uo said placing her hand on Kyo's head that was indeed covered in thick orange hair.

Kyo growled and swung at the tall girl but missed when she dived to the side a bit. She returned the violent gester with one of her own, a slap to the side of his face. The slap left a pink mark that nobody would mistake for a blush in a million years. Kyo was ready to go at it but restrained himself. The boy

staightened an invisable wrinkle in his clothes and cleared his throat.

Tohru was almost afraid to ask what had gotten Kyo into such a nasty mood but didn't let this fear get the best of her, "what happened, Kyo?" she asked innocently.

Kyo made a sound that sounded much like a scoft and turned aournd so that he wasn't facing anyone with his arms crossed. His pouting style was close to that of a child's after he or she didn't get their way.

"He's just angry," Yuki responded.

"When is he not?" Uo questioned.

"That stupid Lopez!" Kyo suddenly shouted.

"Learned his name already, have you?" Yuki responded in his same calm tone of voice.

"Lopez?" Tohru asked. She hadn't heard of a Lopez, that sounded like a hispanic name.

"Yes, he's a new student, just started school here," Yuki said, "I saw his files, this will be his first public school, before he was attending Brighten."

"Brighten!" Uo exclaimed as she nearly fell back.

Tohru looked at Uo and reached out to help her stand properly, "what's wrong? What is Brighten?"

"Beahavioral Institue," Yuki said, "when a child is facing jail time, they are often given the choice of jail or a behavioral insitute like Brighten."

Uo shook her head, "only the worst of the worst go to Brighten, that's a hell of a place, everybody there has anger problems. Most are there because they tried to fight their parents," she explained, "used to know a few kids from there."

"Oh my," Tohru said surprised, "well I guess if he's here, he's all better, he's worked through all of his issues right?"

"That's normally the case," Yuki said with a nod, "I wouldn't worry to much, Ms. Honda. Kyo just seems to bring out the worst in everyone."

"I do not!" Kyo debated, "that ass hole needs to go back to Brighten!"

"He didn't fight me," Yuki said.

"Shut up," Kyo growled.

"Perhaps we should send YOU to Brighten," Yuki responded with a sly smile.

Tohru was growing curious about the school called Brighten. She had never heard of it, but then again if it was a Behavioral Institute she probably had no reason to know of it. Tohru shook the thought of a homicidal school mate out of her mind and turned to see Momiji running towards them. Momiji was always so happy, he was even happy to transform into his zodiac form, the rabbit.

"Yuki, Yuki," Momiji called waving with a smile, "they need you down the hall, there was a fight."

"A fight?" Yuki asked. He was confused since normally he didn't have to deal in affairs like that. He would deal with the after affects of a fight like the suspension paper work.

"Alright! Now this I want to see!" Kyo exclaimed, "who was it between?"

"Haru and another boy I've never seen," Momiji said.

"Haru?" Yuki said with a concerned tone. There was suddenly the sound of cheers and everybody decided it would be time to check things out. Yuki and Momiji took the lead in running to the scene of the fight. The two were closely followed by Uo, Hanajima, Tohru, and Kyo.

The crowd of the fight extened for a good twenty feet. Momiji and Yuki got through pretty easily and Kyo helped Tohru, Hanajima, and Uo get through. The five got there just in time to see a punch being thrown by Haru. The second boy dodged to the side, his hair in a long dark braid. The boy had tan skin and his eyes were gray as he through a punch of his own, also missing but just barely.

"Its Lopez!" Kyo and Yuki exclaimed at the same time.

The boy, now named Lopez, and Haru locked hands and were each putting all their strengh into shoving the other over. Lopez kicked his foot out trying to trip Haru but Haru stomped down on Lopez's foot. Lopez growled and shifted his head slightly and bit down onto Haru's right hand. Haru let out a slight groan of pain but didn't unlock his hand from Lopez's.

The two boys were so intense in their fighting that nobody could seperate them by word of mouth. It took two teachers to pry them apart. Haru had obviously gone black because he was trying hard to pull away and continue on with his fight. Lopez was the same, he had actually gotten away a few times but never far enough to do Haru damage. The two had blood on the mind. Yuki agreed to take Haru while Lopez was taken to the main office to call his parents. Yuki took Haru to his own small office. Tohru and Kyo followed them but Uo and Hanajima decided to stay back and get lunch.

Once the three were in Yuki's office, he closed and locked the door. Three doors down was the main office where Lopez was taken, though the two boys had taken diffrent routes to get to where they needed to be, nobody wanted to see another fight.

"Got to you too, huh?" Kyo asked first.

Haru nodded and then punched his right fist into the palm of his left hand, "that ass hole," he growled, "called me a freak."

"I'm having trouble believing that this boy is going about just starting trouble for no reason," Yuki said in a calming tone.

Hearing Yuki's voice seemed to calm Haru to the fullest extent. He responded in his own soothing tone, "believe it."

Kyo nodded in agreement, "if I've never agreed with ol' cow boy before, I do now," he said.

"Why would he want to risk being sent back to Brighten?" Yuki asked more to himself.

"He's nuts," Kyo answered.

Yuki had his index finger to his chin in thought and then shook his head, "I'm going to talk to him," he said unlocking and opening the office door.

"Should we call the main house now?" Kyo asked as Yuki stepped out of the room. Yuki didn't respond, he simply left out, closing the door behind him.

Tohru looked to Haru and Kyo, they seemed to share the same expression, a deep loathing. She gave a nervous laugh and then looked at the door, she was rather concerned on how Yuki's mood would be once he returned.


	2. Brighten

Chapter Two

Brighten

Yuki knocked on the door of the main offie. His mind was trying to word his speech to Lopez delicately. The last thing that Yuki wanted was to start a fight like his cousins. After no answer came on the first knock, Yuki knocked once again. He waited a while and tried on last time. He was about to leave when suddenly the principle opened the door. That surprised Yuki since it would normally be a student assistant.

"I was wondering if I could speak with Lopez," Yuki started, "that was my cousin he was fighting."

The principle was silent for a moment, "well I'm speaking with him and his parents now, come on," he said letting Yuki into the office and taking the lead to where Lopez was. The boy was sitting between a rather young looking female and a large cloaked figure. The figure was covered from head to toe with a hood that had a hat on top, a rather large hat.

Before going over to the three, the principle stopped and watched. It seemed he was trying to spy on their private coversation.

"Another fight, Lei!" the girl exclaimed at Lopez. Apparently his name was Lei Lopez. Or at least that was part of it.

"How about for once you try making friends?" the girl continued.

Lei made a sound, a "pfft" sound and the male began to speak.

"What's the matter, you're scared?" he asked in a soft yet storng tone.

"Only of your lameness," Lei struck back at the man, "you know I'm sensitive about my ability to make friends, you didn't have to go there."

"You know I'm sensitive about my walking, you didn't have to go there," the male replied.

"Theres a diffrence," Lei shouted, "a good friend is hard to come by, but they got a proper walking stick on damn near every corner of my house you pass!"

The principle cleared his throat and the three turned around quickly, they were clearly surprised. Yuki could see that the male was wearing a rather large mask over his face, not halloween, one made of cloth. If Yuki was seeing clear enough, the male's entire head was rather large, quite large. The male was the first to turn back around and then the female. Lei however continued to stare at Yuki, he must have remembered him from earlier with Kyo.

"I see that I haven't got the parents like I thought," the principle said clearly.

"Oh well you see, what had happened was," the female started, "see they busy, so I came, me and him," she added pointing to the male, "I'm Leinard's big sister, Maria Radhiya Ulu Esteban Lopez."

"REALLY did not need the full name," Lei said shaking his head in utter embarassment.

"Yes well, I would have perfered the parents but I suppose this will be alright," the principle said taking a seat in front of the three, "and this is Yuki Sohma, the cousin of the boy Leinard faught."

Yuki walked over beside the principle and bowed respectfully to the family.

"Now we know of Leinard's situation," the principle said, "and we here, want only the best and to help him stay in the school system."

"Liars," Lei mummbled out of slightly parted lips.

Yuki heard Lei, unlike the principle, he concentrated on Lei's facial appearance which seemed dead, no doublt from years of anger management. Perhaps Ms. Honda could help him as she had helped his family. Of course this was an idea that would stay with Yuki.

All throughout the meeting, Lei seemed to slip into short naps until nudged by the male. Yuki, in his mind, had declared the male to be Lei's brother since the female had already established herself as his sister. The two guardians of Lei left the school with a handshake to the principle and a bow to Yuki. Yuki had kept more quiet than he would have liked but learning about Lei was actually kind of interesting. Apparently Lei used to try and kill his younger siblings by throwing them out windows and down stairs or getting kitchen knives chasing after them. This was more than enough to have him sent to the Brighten school. There he would take classes with only five other students and one teacher in control of the entire room, perhaps the sudden change in quantity had taken its toll on the boy. If Lei was used to small groups, a large public school setting would indeed cause him to go into a fit. Not to mention, now that Yuki thought back to it, Kyo had opened his mouth at a rather embarrassing time, demanding in front of the entire class that Lei got out of his seat.

Lei left out the office at the same time as Yuki but neither even looked at the other. Lei seemed more angry than before, perhaps he didn't expect his sister to come. He seemed to have wanted his parents to show. Yuki felt like he was suppose to say something, apologize even, for his family. Yuki remained silent though.

Kyo watched out Yuki's office door window and saw Lei pass by. He glared at the boy but nearly fell backward when the door opened and hit him. Haru snickered and went back to his relaxed expression at Yuki's appearance.

"How did it go, Yuki?" Tohru asked sounding quite concerned.

Yuki smiled at Tohru's voice and turned to her, "it went fine," he said, "I met Lei's sister."

Kyo seemed to laugh at the idea of Lei having siblings, "what about his parents?"

"They didn't come," Yuki said plainly.

The room kept silent for a moment and then the school bell rung, time for everyone to head for class. The third block class was shared by Yuki, Kyo, Tohru, Uo, and Hanajima. Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru headed for that class and Haru made his way to his own class that he shared with Momiji.

The two elder Sohmas and Tohru got to their class on time and took their seats. The teacher wasn't in yet.

"So what happened with the hispanic boy?" Uo asked.

"Mixed," a voice said and caused everyone to jump. Tohru looked behind her and saw Lei sitting there, staring straight ahead at the front of the room.

"You're in this class?" Kyo moaned in disapointment.

"Must be terrible to share a class with two people who kicked your butt," Uo snickered at Kyo.

"Mixed?" Tohru questioned Lei, she really did not want to hear a fight.

Lei didn't even bother to look at Tohru, "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Tohru asked surprised. Uo and Yuki looked at one another in confusion but Kyo just kept his mind set on the boy being completely mental. Hanajima, however, kept silent and just looked at Lei.

"Earlier," Lei said in almost a whisper.

"About time you apologized," Kyo exclaimed, "I've been waiting."

Lei's head snapped in Kyo's direction in an almost automatc fashion. A growled escaped his lips and he bared his teeth, "not apologizing to you," he said between the clenched teeth, "I'm doing so to the brunette."

"What did you do to her?" Kyo almost shouted.

"I apologize for bumping into you and not helping you to collect your things," Lei said looking at Tohru through the corner of his eyes.

Tohru began to shake her hands in front of her rapidly, "oh no, thats alright," she said nervously. Lei was rather charming in a mysterious way, almost Yuki like.

"So it was you who did it," Uo said crossing her arms as she took a dominant posistion, "I guess I can forgive you since you did beat ol' carrot top over here."

Lei's eyes didn't leave Tohru when he said, "I did not ask for your forgiveness," he then looked

back up at the front of the class room.

Tohru watched Lei for a moment, he had a rather calm exterior at the moment, but at the same time it wasn't like Haru's. Lei's exterior still read that he was violent, even when he was calm. She decided to try another hand at making peace with the boy, "may I ask what you are mixed with?"

"My mother is African, she comes from Africa, Kenya to be specific," Lei said still staring up at the class room's front, "my father is Mexican, he comes from Mexico."

"Oh wow, have you ever been to either of those places?" Tohru asked starting to have fun getting to know Lei.

"Yes, I have family in both countries of course," Lei said, "aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents."

"I hear Africa is a lovely place," Hanajima said in her rather dead tone.

"If you don't mind the genocide behavior," Lei said with a shrug, "then sure."

"Whatever," Kyo chimmed in.

"You don't even know what genocide means, do you?" Yuki questioned.

"Shut up," Kyo snapped at the rat boy.

The teacher finally entered the room with a clip board and some papers in hand. He was studying them hard before he got to his desk and took a seat.

"It appears we have a new student," the teacher said happily.

"As long as he was gone, we all know we have a new student," Uo whispered to everyone around her.

A light went off in her mind scolding her for not asking Lei about Brighten. It was the one thing about the boy that interested her and she had completely forgot to ask about it. Now it was too late but she was sure she would get another chance.

Lei was silent all through class, he even made the teacher introduce him. Tohru smiled sweetly to Lei every once and a while but after the fourth time she looked back Lei rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Tohru eventually got the point and stopped. She could only assume that the boy wanted to intake as much knowledge as he could on his first day. He certainly seemed smart, the way he spoke was rather intelligent. He had an accent but Tohru couldn't make out where it was from. Her only conclusion was that it was a mixture of his African and Mexican background. Of course, he could only be born in one place.

As the class continued, everyone was even more amazed at how fast Lei could answer questions. He worked out math problems faster than the smartest students, without the assistance of a calculator. He knew all his formulas from past maths and used them to solve equations and get the answer right each time. Twenty seconds after the problems were given, Lei was half way done. Tohru couldn't help but wonder if he was this quick in his other subjects. Yuki, however was thinking back to Lei's files, the boy had been home schooled a good portion of his life and then he went to Brighten which was almost the same thing.


End file.
